Tuesday, May 09, 2017

The humble Aussie jaffle. Two bits of bread sandwiched together to create a pocket for molten cheesy goodness. And then Dan Hong comes along and stuffs it with Korean Army stew. It's as though he's on a one man crusade to bring budae jigae to the masses.

But you know what? It works. This Korean American hybrid, a stew (jigae) invented from army (budae) rations during the Korean war, combines noodles with kimchi, gochujang pepper paste, Spam and American cheese. It's spicy, salty, carby cheesy goodness - just the kind of thing you want in a toasted pocket.

At Ms G's this jaffle will set you back $18 but surely that's quality kransky and mortadella buried in there amongst the ramyum noodles and mozzarella. And it's the kind of tongue-in-cheek quirkiness you can expect at Ms G's, a mash-up of all things Asian in the middle of Potts Point.

Take cheese for instance. Burrata is the last thing you'd expect to find in a Chinese restaurant but here it's freaking out every Nonna with the addition of crushed Sichuan peppercorns, sesame seeds, rice vinegar and peanuts. Guaiwei strange flavour sauce is straight outta Sichuan province, more commonly used with cold chicken, but oddly complementary against the cold creamy lusciousness of mozzarella filled with cream. It's a ballsy move (ahaha) and it works.

Ms G's falafel, green tomato salsa and black garlic aioli $4.50 each

In contrast, Ms G's take on falafel is much less exciting, not that there's anything amiss with the chickpea patties, but its topping of green tomato salsa and black garlic aioli seems to veer off the modern Asian path, even with the inclusion of black garlic.

Vietnamese steak tartare with prawn crackers $21

While some dishes change on the menu, others will always remain. And with good reason. The Vietnamese steak tartare is too good to ever remove, a hybrid between steak tartare and the Vietnamese bo tai chanh rare beef salad. Those thick crunchy prawn crackers are the perfect carriage for seasoned chopped beef, a glossy egg yolk and a mountain of deep fried shallots.

Mini banh mi with chicken katsu and spicy fish katsu $7.50 each

Mini banh mi are about as far removed from your Cabramatta favourite as you can get, but that includes the juiciness of both the chicken and fish fillets, each coated in panko crumbs and deep fried to an expert crunch.

Cheeseburger spring rolls $6 each

Cheeseburger spring rolls are always a winner. It's that sharpness of dill pickles against the tomato sauce, beef mince and cheese that make these so ridiculously addictive.

Fried sweetcorn, dashi brown butter, parsley and furikake $18

Fried sweetcorn involves some serious knifework with each corn cob split into four quarters straight through the core. Butter and cheese on corn is a no-brainer but the addition of dashi and furikake, the seaweed seasoning usually used for sushi rice, lifts the umami intensity to a plate-licking eleven.

The fried rice tends to change styles regularly. When we visited it was masala, a big hit of curry flavours with prized smithereens of chicken crackling and a bucketload of fried garlic.

Crispy fried chicken wings with tom yum mayonnaise $17

We've almost finished our second round of cocktails by the time the crispy fried chicken wings arrive. These are so crunchy I could weep, except I'm too busy dunking these brittle skinned mid-wings (and yes, they're ALL mid-wings) into a tub of tom yum mayonnaise.

Salt and vinegar eggplant tempura $17

And because you can never have too much fried, we finish with salt and vinegar eggplant tempura. These have only a light spray of vinegar on them, but the batter is insanely good. You'd hear the shatter of someone munching on these from the other side of the (noisy) dining room. The eggplant is perfectly squidgy in the middle too.

There are four desserts to choose from, including the calorific overload that is Stoner's Delight Part 3 - doughnut ice cream, crispy bacon, peanut and pretzel brittle, Mars bar brownie, potato chips, deep fried Nutella and more - but we go for the lightest one, the Hongo Bongo.

There are strong similarities between this dessert and the previous Namira's Dream, named after Dan's daughter. The Hongo Bongo swaps out fresh strawberries, lychee tapioca and mascarpone mousse for fresh watermelon, mochi and yoghurt mousse. The strawberry granita and the Calpis sorbet features in both.

It's just the palate cleanser you want to finish on, and the mix of textures and temperatures creates different combinations with every spoonful.

Why's it called Hong Bongo? I suspect it has something to do with this...

9 Comments:

Yesss!!! I love Ms G's. Think I'm due for a revisit. Loved the burrata and cheeseburger springrolls. The jaffle looks interesting but I'm not the biggest fan of mortadella, especially when it's been warmed. Has a super strange taste to me!